STATE RECORDS

Our Government

The Federal Government of the United States is a constitutional republic and serves as the national government of the United States of America. Based in the capital city of Washington D.C., it is composed of three main branches; the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial. The three branches serve to impose checks and balances on each other to ensure that none have authoritative power. Additionally, the federal government offers guidelines and legislation that govern lower power governments, such as those found in each of the 50 states.

The government was originally founded over 200 years ago in 1789 following a successful revolution against the British Empire. When the Constitution went into effect the same year, the United States became the world’s first modern constitutional republic. The government was based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, meaning that power is shared by the national and state governments.

The three branches of the federal government impose checks and balances on one another. For example, legislation created by Congress can be vetoed by the president, which in turn can be overridden by Congress. Historically, Presidents have vetoed 1484 bills, 106 of which were overridden by Congress. The president is responsible for nominating judges to the supreme court, but each nominee needs to be approved by Congress. Of the 153 people who have been nominated, only 30 have either declined the nomination, or were not approved by congress.. The Supreme court can rule that legislation passed by Congress is unconstitutional, invalidating it. In this way, no individual branch has more power than the other, and decisions made by one are always reviewed by at least one other branch.